We all know the economy is not the booming environment that it used to be. Foreclosures, lay-offs, inflation, tight credit and poor investment returns have hit millions of people hard.

At the same time, most of us are optimistic that this is not going to be an excessive downturn. It should not take decades for things to unwind and reach bottom before resuming growth. Still, the next 2-3 years are likely to be rough with belt-tightening required far and wide.

While there is a lot of disagreement about what needs to be done to fix the economy (from letting everything fail and starting things over after to nationalizing our financial institutions and perhaps even more), it is not the economy in aggregate that drives most of us.

If you have a story - good or bad - about how the current economy has impacted you, please add it below. Lets together put a real face on the massive numbers being reported in the news.

The best of the comments will be highlighted and may be spun into independent posts for more conversation.

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